Atlantis Squarepantis Review Picture

(NOTE: The title card does NOT belong to me. I simply edited it a little to display the sign of a full review.)

Atlantis Squarepantis was the first Spongebob TV movie ever made, and almost everyone was expecting a huge, grand adventure into the lost city of Atlantis, but by the end of the special, people deemed it as a huge slap in the face and the worst episode of the series. Is it as bad as people say it is? Well, let’s see.

The episode begins with a Patchy plot, where Patchy is having trouble with traffic, because life just doesn’t seem to like him that much. Eventually, Patchy drives back to Encino, only to find that it has vanished! Patchy says that this strange occurrence reminds him of a story, having to do with another Lost City, and then starts the episode.

The Spongebob plot begins with Spongebob and Patrick blowing bubbles in Jellyfish Fields. Patrick tries to take pictures of the bubbles but they keep popping before the picture is taken. And then, Spongebob begins to sing a song about how he wishes that the bubbles they blow would last forever.

This is actually one of the reasons people hate it so much; because Atlantis Squarepantis is a musical. People seem to hate the fact that it’s a musical because none of the advertisements hinted at it being a musical. But personally, I find the musical part of the episode to be one of the best parts, and that’s coming from a person who’s not at all fond of musicals. And I thought the Bubble Song to be good, as well as the upcoming songs your about to hear.

Spongebob blows a big bubble, which engulfs both him and Patrick, which takes them to a cave. The bubble pops upon hitting a fragment of a golden medallion. Eager to discover what exactly it is, they take it to the Bikini Bottom Museum where they (literally) run into Squidward. At first, Squidward thinks that SpongeBob and Patrick were planning on stealing the first half of the amulet which is housed in the museum, but upon attempting to return it to its spot realizes that what Patrick and SpongeBob had was in fact the missing half of a golden medallion, which can lead them to the legendary city of Atlantis! At this point, both Mr Krabs and Sandy join them. And Atlantis seems to contain all the things that the main characters love; money for Krabs; science for Sandy; and art for Squidward. But what catches the eyes of Spongebob and Patrick is that Atlantis is the home of the oldest living bubble!

Once Squidward puts the two pieces of the medallion together, a luxurious bus appears. The gang tries to run the bus, but it appears that it’s fueled by singing. So, Spongebob and his friends sing a song about what they love. Mr. Krabs loves money, Sandy loves science, Plankton loves destruction, and Squidward loves WAIT A MINUTE! Plankton? Okay, that’s a plothole right there. How did he even get to the bus in the first place? Did he sneak in there, or did he, you know what? I’m just gonna take the easy way out of the question; a wizard did it.

I actually was expecting Atlantis to look like the original, mythological way, but I actually find the alien colony version to be pretty, too! And then they meet the king of Atlantis, who isn’t King Neptune (what?), but it’s an alien humanoid named Lord Royal Highness, who looks like this:

I suppose the design does look a little odd, but it’s interesting, though. Lord Royal Highness introduces the main characters to Atlantis, and he gives them a tour throughout his palace, first leading to the room full of riches, which gets Mr. Krabs all excited; excited enough to sing!

Because Krabs wants to collect enough money to make his pockets full (he’s allowed to collect the money), he decides to stay. And then the rest of the gang is lead to what they call the Hall of Science, where Sandy can enjoy and learn from many of the electronic play-do sculptures machines, including a machine that can transform any object into ice cream, and even a machine where she saves her friends by fighting germs (see below).

And then, similar to Mr. Krabs wanting to stay, Sandy decides to stay in the science lab, leaving the group with only LRH, Squidward, Spongebob and Patrick. And then we see that Plankton has snuck into the Atlantean Armory, figuring out which weapon he wants, in which he finally chooses to use a tank.

And so, Squidward decides to stay as well to become a model artist. This feels familiar… Oh yeah, this special is inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! One person disappears after the other and all that’s left is LRH and our two protagonists. So, when Spongebob says that he and Patrick want to see the oldest living bubble, LRH first tells them the story of the bubble, before allowing them to see it.

LRH: Do excuse me. Most folks don't stay with the tour this long. Of course you can. First, remember this. This bubble is over one million years old. It was brought here when the first Atlanteans colonized this place, deftly hand carried over billions of light years from our home planet. It is our people's most beloved and treasured ancient relic. But most importantly, remember to have fun!

But everything goes wrong when SpongeBob and Patrick are left alone with the World's Oldest Living Bubble. The flash from Patrick's camera when he takes a picture of themselves with the bubble causes it to burst, making them fearful. While all the main characters have dinner with Lord Royal Highness, they insist on leaving. When Patrick reveals their mistake, Lord Royal Highness tells them that the bubble they popped was a prop, but when he shows them the real bubble, Patrick takes a picture of it and it also pops. Because of this, LRH gets angry and he sends his guards out to attack the group.

And then a fight scene occurs. If you’ve seen this episode before, you should be able to notice two things wrong with the scene. If you don’t, then let me point them out. One, the weapons that the Atlanteans use (specifically the guns) don’t do any harm, as their guns are basically Nerf bazookas. Two, Sandy is the one that does all the fighting. While I do like seeing her fight, the creators pretty much glorified her as if she’s the ONLY one who can do it. Come on. Krabs was once a navy champion. Spongebob is a karate expert like Sandy. Patrick can punch and brawl. And Squidward can… ummm… he can… Well he can ink? My point is, that I think all of the main characters should’ve actually fought instead of Sandy using them as weapons.

It comes to a point where they run into Plankton, who is using a huge tank, and is about to blow them all up. But before we see what happens, we have to see what Patchy’s up to, first.

Apparently, Patchy is hallucinating and he starts to see a very terrifying real-life “Spongebob” (I refuse to believe that THAT’S Spongebob!) telling him that Encino’s not gone, as long as he “believes” it. And then we get a montage of Patchy back in Encino, doing all the fun things he can do. But then, he gets a grip on reality and sees that it was all just a dream.

And then we get back to the Spongebob part of the story. Plankton presses the button to shoot the ammo out of the tank towards everyone, only to find out that the tank shoots ice cream. In frustration, Plankton gets out of the tank, and when LRH sees him and picks him up, he decides to use Plankton as a replacement for the bubble. Finally, Lord Royal Highness loads SpongeBob and his friends back onto the bus and removes the amulet, giving it to one of his soldiers to dispose of to ensure no more "visitors like these". SpongeBob is the only one eager to return to Bikini Bottom, and he sings of his delight in returning home as everyone else cries in protest.